Media Touts Another Covid Variant in Quest for More Pandemic-mania

Media Touts Another Covid Variant in Quest for More Pandemic-mania

Clearly, the media’s quest for the latest pandemic to cover is not going well.

Bird flu isn’t spreading among humans, and when someone does catch it, it simply results in “pink eye.” The super-monkeypox seems to be confined to Africa currently.

So, it’s back to stories about covid. To begin with, there is a new “FLiRT” variant that has the “experts” excited.

A new coronavirus variant named KP.3.1.1 has risen to dominance in the U.S., almost doubling in prevalence in just two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

Experts are warning that the new variant—which, as of August 3, accounts for more than 1 in 4 U.S. COVID-19 cases—is “more of a challenge” to our immune systems compared to previous variants.

The new variant is a sub-lineage of the previously dominant KP.3, which rose to prominence at the end of May.

…Both KP.3.1.1 and KP.3 belong to a new class of variants nicknamed the “FLiRT” variants. They are named after the mutations in the projections on the virus’ surface that allow them to enter our cells. These projections, known as spike proteins, are also used as targets by our immune systems and vaccinations.

According to early analysis (that has not been peer-reviewed), KP.3.1.1 is significantly more infectious than previous variants, including KP.3. It may also be better at evading our immune systems and immunity conveyed by existing vaccines.

Covid is now endemic and it is ubiquitous. People have stopped COVID testing altogether, so public health officials now have to resort to wastewater sample testing to estimate how many people have the virus in all its variants.

For example, in Michigan.

In fact, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) reports that COVID-19 disease indicators are rising – those indicators include wastewater and emergency department visits, but they’re increasing from a low level.

“What they’re following right now is wastewater samples because that’s the only predictive thing that we have right now. People aren’t getting tested as often,” Sims said. “If they’re doing home tests, we don’t know what the results of those are, and a lot of states aren’t collecting the data or reporting the data anymore.”

Despite all the super-strict precautions and pandemic rules that were enforced over the span of 2-3 years in some places, California wastewater is filled with the pathogen.

California has “very high” coronavirus levels in its wastewater — one of 21 states in that category, up from seven the prior week, according to estimates published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That means about 155 million people — nearly half of America’s population — live in areas with “very high” coronavirus levels in sewage. Besides California, the other states with “very high” levels are Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming. Washington, D.C., is also in that category.

…Most Americans probably know a family member, friend, co-worker or acquaintance who has come down with COVID-19 recently, perhaps being infected while traveling or at a social gathering.

“If you call — I don’t know — 20 or 30 friends, you’re very, very likely to find a bunch of them actually have COVID, or have had COVID recently, or are starting to be symptomatic,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a COVID expert and chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri.

Americans are so over COVID. Clearly, they are treating it as they would any mild respiratory virus and getting on with their lives.

There is a lesson in that for our press and some of the “experts” who still advocate masking.

“Given the increased transmission of new strains of COVID-19, residents should continue taking common-sense precautions to avoid transmitting or becoming ill with COVID-19,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement Thursday.

“This includes washing their hands often or using hand sanitizer, especially before eating, after sneezing or coughing, or when in public places, and considering mask use when in crowded indoor spaces,” the department said.

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